Scottish Executive

Archaeology

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring has taken place over the last three years of resources devoted by local authorities to the provision of an archaeological service in line with the National Planning Policy Guideline 5 and whether such resources are adequate, given the remit of local authorities in respect of archaeological issues raised on unscheduled monuments under both the local authority planning function and Executive initiatives on forestry and agri-environment schemes.

Ms Margaret Curran: No formal monitoring has taken place. However, the Scottish Executive, through Historic Scotland, is aware of the range of provision made for archaeological services by Scottish local authorities. It is for each local authority to allocate its resources across the range of services that it provides in the light of locally determined priorities.

Architecture

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific measures it has taken or plans to take to promote the use of architects and what action it has taken to ensure that Communities Scotland works in partnership with architects.

Dr Elaine Murray: The Executive is committed to the promotion of good architecture by means of the objectives and commitments set out in A Policy on Architecture for Scotland . The Executive believes that good architecture is the product of the creative collaboration of many disciplines and that architects have a key role to play in this process. Communities Scotland meets quarterly with the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland to facilitate joint working.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which group of cancer patients will benefit from the increased funding for clinical trials, given the number of colorectal, lung and prostate cancer patients who currently participate in clinical trials.

Malcolm Chisholm: This funding is not targeted at any particular group of patients, but at increasing recruitment to relevant clinical trials for all cancers. The availability of suitable trials, patient eligibility and consent to participate will determine appropriate action areas.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase its share of the funding for cancer research against the amount currently raised through charitable donations.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive recognises and supports the work of research charities with which we have a common purpose - to secure continuous improvements in outcomes, treatment, care and quality of life for NHS patients. Under a UK-wide agreement with the research charities, the Executive financially supports charity-funded research by meeting the costs to the NHS of hosting their research activities. These costs are met through the NHS RandD Support Fund which is managed by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO). It follows, therefore, that any increase in cancer research which charities fund within NHSScotland will be eligible for additional support funding from the NHS RandD Support Fund.

  Furthermore, as I announced last month, £1 million is being made available to support additional clinical trials in cancer.

European Union

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a convention comprising of representatives to consider the social, political, religious and economic implications in Scotland of the future role and direction of the European Union, similar to the one established in Catalonia, and to set up a website to provide details of the work of any such convention.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no plans to establish such a convention. The Executive recognises that the debate on the future of the European Union is of great importance to the people of Scotland and it has already participated in a number of events focusing on this issue. We welcome the recent announcement by the Northern Ireland Executive of its intention to develop the debate there. We indicated in our response to the European Committee's 9th Report of 2001: Governance of the European Union and the Future of Europe: what role for Scotland? that we intend to encourage and facilitate full participation by civil society in Scotland in the Future of Europe debate. We, however, think it sensible to establish precisely how the forum and the structured network will operate and how the views of civil society can most effectively be conveyed to the Future of Europe Convention before embarking on that process and details of these arrangements are still not available.

Ferry Services

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the case for road equivalent tariff to be applied to the costs of travel by ferry; whether it has considered the cost of implementing such a policy and, if so, what the estimated cost would be, and whether it has estimated what the additional traffic would be through a reduction in the ferry fares by the application of a road equivalent tariff policy.

Lewis Macdonald: We have no plans to implement a road equivalent tariff (RET) approach to setting fares for ferry services which the Executive subsidises, nor do we intend to conduct research into the cost of implementing such a policy. As I have indicated in previous answers, it is clear that RET would require substantial alteration in the fares structure of Caledonian MacBrayne at a time when it and the people whom it serves most require stability and security of service. Our efforts must be focused on securing continuity of services and protection of fares through the future tendering exercise relating to the company's services.

Ferry Services

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre a copy of the consultants report commissioned by Caledonian MacBrayne as part of its fares review in which it considered whether a road equivalent tariff fare structure should be implemented on the Clyde and Western Isles ferry services.

Lewis Macdonald: I have asked Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd to place a copy of the report in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20611).

Finance

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the block grant is received in one payment to the Scottish Consolidated Fund or in instalments over the course of the financial year.

Mr Andy Kerr: The funds voted by the Westminster Parliament to the Scottish Consolidated Fund are received in instalments, on the first working day of each month.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are currently registered with general practitioners according to the community health index.

Malcolm Chisholm: According to the community health index, 5,350,424 patients are currently registered with general practitioners in Scotland.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that all payments to general practitioners are accurate.

Malcolm Chisholm: All claims for payment from general practitioners are subject to pre-payment verification checks ranging from a scrutiny of claim forms to contacting the patient to confirm details. Guidance on pre- and post-payment verification procedures was issued to NHS Scotland on 28 March 2002. The guidance issued under cover of circular NHS HDL (2002) 20, a copy of which can be obtained from the Scottish Health on the Web (SHOW) website at:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/publicationsindex.htm.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it or the Common Services Agency ensures that no fraudulent items of service claims are made by general practitioners (GPs) and what process is there for GPs who are found to have made such claims.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive issued NHS HDL (Health Department Letter) (2002)20 to NHSScotland on 28 March 2002. This outlines guidance on payment verification arrangements for family health services. Chapter 4 of the payments verification procedures document at Annex B of the HDL lists the verification checks undertaken by the Common Services Agency on payments claimed by GPs under general medical services, including item of service fees. In addition, the Executive issued HDL(2002)23 on 5 April 2002 which provides guidance to NHSScotland on procedures to be followed where there is cause to suspect that a criminal offence, including fraud, has been committed involving public funds or property. There is a requirement to report the case to the Procurator Fiscal where there is prima facie evidence of fraud. The HDLs are available on the SHOW website at:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/publications.asp

  In addition to having their case referred to the Procurator Fiscal, GPs who are suspected of claiming payments falsely will be investigated by the Fraud Investigation Unit of the Common Services Agency and may be referred to one or more of the following bodies, depending on the gravity of the alleged offence - an NHS Discipline Committee, the NHS Tribunal, the General Medical Council.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place to ensure that all students, the deceased and temporary residents are removed from general practitioners' lists at the appropriate time.

Malcolm Chisholm: Under the National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995, an Islands NHS Board or a Primary Care Trust is required to keep an up-to-date list of patients for each of its general practitioners. Where the board or trust is satisfied that a person no longer resides in the area where the general practitioner provides services or that the whereabouts of the person are no longer known to it, it should remove that person's name from the patient list.

  Students are entitled to have their names included in the patient list of a general practitioner in the area where they reside during their course of study. Registration of students is subject to the same controls as other patients.

  When a patient dies their name is to be deleted from the patient list as from the date on which notification of death is received by the board or trust. A general practitioner is obliged to send the medical records of a patient who has died to the board or trust in a case where he or she learned of the death other than by notification from that body.

  Temporary residents are not included in a general practitioner's list. The board or trust for the area of their normal place of residence should remove them from the list of their own general practitioner once their stay in the place of temporary residence exceeds 90 days and they have not returned to their own area.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to pilot managed care models of disease management.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Health Department is funding the evaluation of two demonstration Managed Clinical Networks, one in vascular services in Lanarkshire, the other in neurology with particular reference to stroke which is being taken forward jointly between Wishaw Hospital and the Institute of Neurological Sciences at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow. A wide range of other Managed Clinical Networks are being developed.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it accepts the number of 1,416 acute hospital beds occupied full-time by patients with hospital-acquired infection (HAI) as estimated by Dr Andrew Walker in his report into HAI and bed use in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are no statistics on hospital-acquired infection (HAI) and bed use. Any figure can only be an estimate based on studies conducted in a few hospitals in England and elsewhere.

  The new HAI surveillance system currently provides data on the incidence of blood-borne MRSA infections and will provide similar data on the incidence of infection for selected surgical site infections and neurosurgery.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what account will be taken of Dr Andrew Walker's report into hospital-acquired infection and bed use in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: Dr Walker's report will contribute along with other information and studies to the development of policy for dealing with health care associated infection.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact actions taken to tackle hospital-acquired infection are having.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has put in place a range of measures to tackle hospital acquired infection (HAI). These include the introduction of service standards by the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland (CSBS) for infection control and cleaning services, a national mandatory system of surveillance of HAI, improved measures for the decontamination of re-usable medical devices, the antimicrobial resistance strategy and additional funding for the training of infection control nurses.

  The CSBS interim report on performance against the infection control standard will be the first indication of how well the NHS in Scotland is responding to the new measures.

Housing

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23160 by Iain Gray on 26 March 2002, why the information requested is not held centrally and what the benefits are of not holding such information centrally.

Iain Gray: Responsibilities for assessing and meeting all housing needs at local level, including needs for sheltered housing, lie with local authorities.

  The Executive does, however, collect information at local authority level on (a) the total number of sheltered houses in the social rented sector at 31 March each year, and (b) the total number of lettings of local authority owned special needs dwellings each quarter (which includes sheltered but does not separately identify them). The most recent information on (a) was published in the Scottish Executive Quarterly Housing Trends Bulletin HSG/2001/6, which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (publication date 18 December 2001, Bib. number 18220). The latest figure on (b) for the period July-September 2001, for the council area of North Lanarkshire was 53.

  In deciding on the regular statistical information to gather from councils and maintain centrally, the Executive aims to ensure that the need justifies the costs to councils of assembling and supplying the information.

Housing

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether funds allocated to local authorities for the care and repair programme in privately-owned homes are ring-fenced.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive provides up to 50% of the revenue costs required to administer Care and Repair and these resources must be used for this purpose. The remaining costs in relation to Care and Repair are met by local authorities, these are not ring-fenced.

Housing

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether supply under care and repair programmes is meeting demand for (a) care and repair and (b) aids and adaptations and how it monitors supply and demand under such programmes.

Ms Margaret Curran: Work carried out by Care and Repair projects reflects locally identified needs. Care and Repair is one way in which local needs in respect of equipment and adaptations may be met. It is for local authorities to assess needs in their area and decide how demand should be met.

  Communities Scotland publish 15 National Indicators in their annual report: Care and Repair in Scotland - National Indicators. The report presents information on the operation of the Care and Repair service in Scotland. Copies of the latest publication (2000-01) are available from the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Housing

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive under what criteria the Rent Registration Service sets rent levels for housing benefit purposes.

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines there are for the Rent Registration Service on reducing rent levels previously set for housing benefit purposes in respect of buildings that do not meet acceptable standards.

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities can reduce rent levels set for housing benefit purposes by the Rent Registration Service in respect of properties that do not meet acceptable standards.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Rent Registration Service sets rent levels for housing benefit purposes in line with legislation drawn up by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and approved by the UK Parliament.

  The legislation requires the Rent Officer to make a significantly high rent determination if he considers that the tenant's rent is significantly higher than that which the landlord might reasonably expect to obtain on the open market at that time.

  If the dwelling exceeds the defined size criteria for the household, the Rent Officer must determine a rent for a similar tenancy of the appropriate size for that household in the vicinity.

  If the rent officer considers that the rent for the dwelling is exceptionally high, he has to determine the highest rent (which is not exceptionally high) which the landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain for a similar tenancy in the same neighbourhood.

  The Rent Officer makes his determination on the basis of his knowledge of the local market and, in doing so, looks at similar tenancies in the same vicinity. In particular, the Rent Officer will consider the proposed rent against his or her determination of the mid-point market rent for the appropriate size of dwelling in the locality. These "Local Reference Rents" ("Single Room Rents" for claimants under 25) are calculated by formulae defined in the legislation.

Local Government

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list any local authorities that utilise elements of their care and repair programme budgets for aids and adaptations.

Ms Margaret Curran: Work carried out by Care and Repair projects reflects locally identified needs. In many instances this will include equipment and adaptations. However, information on the number of equipment and adaptations carried out by Care and Repair projects is not held centrally.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22374 by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 February 2002, what research has been, is being or will be carried out into the number of males and females currently diagnosed as suffering from depression.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is currently funding a number of research projects on questions related to the genetics and treatment of depression. Over the past few years, the Executive has also funded the Scottish element of a range of surveys by the Office for National Statistics into depression and other aspects of psychiatric morbidity in both children and adults. The reports of these surveys can be found on the National Statistics website:

  www.statistics.gov.uk.

Multiple Sclerosis

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people currently suffer from multiple sclerosis; whether all such patients will be given a neurological assessment to gauge their suitability for beta-interferon, and whether there are sufficient neurologists and clinical personnel to carry out such assessments.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report on multiple sclerosis estimates that around 10,400 people suffer from multiple sclerosis in Scotland. A copy of the SNAP report has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 9354).

  A UK-wide risk-sharing scheme for the treatment of eligible patients with multiple sclerosis begins on 6 May 2002. The scheme allows beta interferon and glatiramer acetate to be prescribed on the NHS to patients who meet criteria set out by the Association of British Neurologists. Patients' eligibility for treatment will depend on the clinical judgement of the specialist neurologists concerned.

  The health departments do not underestimate the work required to set up and operate the scheme and will be holding regular meetings with professional and patient groups to assess progress. The scheme includes incentives for the pharmaceutical companies to increase their investment in generic specialist MS nursing services.

  Full details of the scheme are explained in Health Department Letter (2002) 6, a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20653).

Planning

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken in each of the last three years in order to encourage any local authorities that do not have a professional archaeology service in line with National Planning Policy Guideline 5 to establish such a service.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive, through Historic Scotland (HS), takes every appropriate opportunity to encourage local authorities to provide a professional archaeology service.

  Historic Scotland has given financial support to a number of councils over recent years. In all cases HS support has been directed towards the establishment of adequate Sites and Monuments Records (SMR) as described in National Planning Policy Guideline 5: Archaeology and Planning. In the last three years HS has provided SMR support grants in the order of £35-£40,000 per annum.

  Within the last three years new archaeologist appointments have been made in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Perth and Kinross Council and East Lothian Council.

Planning

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring has taken place of the effectiveness of National Planning Policy Guideline 5 and Planning Advice Note 42 and whether it will publish any statistics that it has gathered in this respect over the last three years.

Ms Margaret Curran: No such monitoring has taken place.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received about introducing capital city policing in Edinburgh; from whom any such representations have been received; whether capital city policing will be introduced in Edinburgh and, if so, what funding will be made available.

Mr Jim Wallace: Representations have been received from the Lothian and Borders Joint Police Board and also from the Chief Constable.

  Funding for the Scottish Police Service is currently at record levels. It is a matter for the Lothian and Borders Joint Police Board to set a budget for its area and, within that, for the Chief Constable to determine how best to use the resources available to him to meet local needs and circumstances. In addition, forces have also received extra funding to meet a number of special pressures. Among the extra amounts provided to Lothian and Borders Police in this way are: (i) £4.4 million over the past three years for new recruitment; (ii) £0.1 million in 2001-02 to meet the costs of the Scottish Parliament Police Unit when the Parliament is not sitting - the Parliament meets the rest of the costs of this unit, and (iii) £0.4 million in 2001-02 for additional policing costs incurred following the events of 11 September 2001.

Postal Service

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has received for the support of post offices in deprived urban areas in 2002-03 and how such funding will be utilised.

Allan Wilson: Ministers are currently considering this and I hope to be able to advise you further in due course.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24244 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 April 2002, why no substantive answer to question S1W-23569 has been issued yet.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Because the question was different from question S1W-24244 and required some investigation. The question was answered on 24 April 2002.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what insurance cover exists for the prison estates owned and operated by the Scottish Prison Service and how much is paid for that cover under section 6 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd .

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  None.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the contractor has provided evidence of having negotiated insurance for the private prison estate that it operates under section 6 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd .

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the rateable value is for calculating business rates for the prison and site under section 9.5 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd .

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The current rateable value is £410,000.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19194 by Iain Gray on 16 November 2001, whether the provision of compensation for the use of Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd staff when deployed in other prisons and vice versa is compatible with the mutual aid arrangement section 5.5 and 5.6 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison places are currently available to prisoners who wish to have nothing to do with drugs and whether this meets any targets set by the Scottish Prison Service.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  About 2,100 prisoner places are currently available to prisoners who wish to have nothing to do with drugs. This figure represents 36% of available capacity. The SPS Drug Strategy (Partnership and Co-ordination, published in March 2000) looked for around 40% of capacity to be available to such prisoners by April 2002.

Prison Service

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that key stakeholders and social partners are able fully to participate in discussions on its consultation on the prison estate review.

Mr Jim Wallace: The review has been widely distributed including on the Scottish Executive website. A variety of response mechanisms are available and I encourage everyone to respond.

Prison Service

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received from the Scottish Prison Service the report, Constructing the Future , prepared by Mr Eric Murch of HM Prison Low Moss on or about 21 April 2000 and, if so, when it received it.

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made on its behalf of the report, Constructing the Future , prepared by Mr Eric Murch of HM Prison Low Moss on or about 21 April 2000.

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial review, if any, has been made on its behalf of the investment decisions proposed in the report, Constructing the Future , prepared by Mr Eric Murch of HM Prison Low Moss on or about 21 April 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: No. Mr Murch did not prepare such a report. Constructing the Future was one of several internal Scottish Prison Service (SPS) submissions which were subsequently taken into account in the SPS Estates Review.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the publication by Her Majesty's Government of the report Review of PFI and Market Testing in the Prison Service in regard to prisons in England and Wales, what its policy is in regard to the publication of staff numbers in any private prison in Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Decisions and disclosure of any inputs, including any staffing details, is a matter for the contractors.

Prison Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the private build, private operate option for prisons and, in particular, the projected more flexible use of staff and reduced labour costs under that option are consistent with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Executive and the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

Mr Jim Wallace: Yes.

Prison Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much PricewaterhouseCoopers was paid for its Financial Review of Scottish Prison Service Estates Review and whether this fee was included in the costings for the Public/Private Partnership options in the prison estates review.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24578 on 26 April 2002.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what shareholding it will have in the company limited by guarantee that will succeed Railtrack.

Lewis Macdonald: If Network Rail succeeds Railtrack, it will be a company limited by Guarantee. There would be no shareholders and any operating surplus would be re-invested in the rail network.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it requested that a separate company by guarantee be established to succeed Railtrack in Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: No.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will be able to give directions and guidance to the company limited by guarantee that will replace Railtrack and, if so, under what terms and circumstances; whether such directions and guidance will be subject to veto and, if so, by whom.

Lewis Macdonald: The regulation of whatever company succeeds Railtrack will remain a reserved matter and as such will be the responsibility of the Office of the Rail Regulator.

Rail Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions regarding the company limited by guarantee that will succeed Railtrack.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions on a wide range of issues including the proposal for a company limited by guarantee to succeed Railtrack.

Recycling

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the recycling of household waste is currently carried out by the community or voluntary sector.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally. However, initial analysis of the results of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency survey of local authority waste arisings for 2000-01 indicates that approximately half of Scottish local authorities had formal arrangements with community or voluntary sector organisations to collect household waste for the purposes of recycling.

  The Executive has also provided support from the Sustainable Action Fund to the Recycling Advisory Group Scotland to set up a formal network for community organisations involved in waste recycling, reuse and reduction. One of the aims of the network is to determine the number of groups of this type and their level of activity in Scotland.

Recycling

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it is making available to the community or voluntary sector to allow its participation in the long-term planning and delivery of sustainable environmental and economic development and specifically in the area of waste recycling.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive provides resources of this kind through core and grant funding from the Sustainable Action Fund. Grant of £149,094 has been offered in financial years 2001-02 and 2002-03 to community and voluntary projects involved with waste recycling and reuse.

  The Scottish Executive has also established a Strategic Waste Fund of £50.4 million for local authorities to implement area waste plans under the National Waste Strategy. Community and voluntary sector organisations are being encouraged to take an active role in working with local authorities to implementing these plans.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to proceed with the upgrade of the Planting End to Drumflower section of the A75 as stated in the letter of 20 December 2001 to me from the Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, given that it was not included in its leaflet Delivering Transport Improvements - West of Scotland 1 .

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive plans to develop the A75 Planting End to Drumflower as a substitute for the suspended Chapelton to Bush o' Bield scheme, dependent upon the outcome of the second stage Port Approach Study.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the upgrade of the Planting End to Drumflower section of the A75 was not included in its leaflet Delivering Transport Improvements - West of Scotland 1 .

Lewis Macdonald: The nine regional leaflets Delivering Transport Improvements detail committed funding as outlined in the Motorway and Trunk Roads Programme to 2004, announced by Sarah Boyack, then-Minister for Transport, on 27 March 2001.

  The A75 Planting End to Drumflower scheme was not included in that programme, and so does not feature in Delivering Transport Improvements: West of Scotland 1.

  I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24799 today.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has suspended the planned upgrading of the Chapelton to Bush o' Bield section of the A75, as stated in the letter of 20 December 2001 to me from the Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning and, if so, why it was included in its leaflet Delivering Transport Improvements - West of Scotland 1 .

Lewis Macdonald: Further development of the A75 Chapelton to Bush o' Bield scheme has been suspended due to contaminated land.

  The scheme was initially included in the Motorway and Trunk Roads Programme 2001-04. The mention in the Delivering Transport Improvements leaflet reflects the fact that, prior to its suspension, funds were allocated and spent on the preliminary development of the scheme.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans its has to announce further improvements to the A75 and A77 in light of the plans by Stena Line for the Loch Ryan operations.

Lewis Macdonald: The Motorway and Trunk Road Programme to 2004 includes 15 schemes on the A75 and A77 at a total cost of over £19 million. Consideration will be given to reallocating planned investment along the routes to best address the priorities identified in consultation with the Loch Ryan ferry companies. The case for further investment beyond 2004 stands to be considered against competing priorities from across the trunk road network in the context of Spending Review 2002.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support and promote a pilot scheme for the introduction of road equivalent tariff on one of the ferry routes to the Western Isles.

Lewis Macdonald: We have no plans to support such a scheme.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote or fund further bus park-and-ride schemes similar to Ferry Toll in Fife; what sites have been selected under any such plans, and what (a) funds have provided and (b) steps have been taken to date.

Lewis Macdonald: Promotion of park-and-ride schemes is a matter for individual local authorities.

  The Scottish Executive supports the development of park-and-ride and other interchange schemes through the Public Transport Fund. To date over £20 million has been awarded towards 10 different park-and-ride schemes in Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Angus, Perth and Kinross, Fife, Falkirk, Stirling, and Midlothian.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its current position is on the financing of the M74 northern extension.

Lewis Macdonald: The position remains as stated in the answer given by Sarah Boyack to Robert Brown in question S1W-15440 on 11 May 2001.

Schools

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce a decision on the current proposals by (a) North Lanarkshire Council and (b) South Lanarkshire Council for schools' reorganisation and closures in their respective areas.

Nicol Stephen: Neither council has submitted current applications for the consent of the Scottish ministers to the reorganisation or closure of schools in their areas. Decisions on school reorganisation or closure proposals are in the first instance the responsibility of the education authority concerned, following statutory consultation with parents, school boards and church bodies in the case of denominational schools. The consent of Scottish ministers to individual proposals is required only in certain circumstances prescribed in statute.

  Both North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council have submitted bids for revenue support for potential school building Public/Private Partnership projects with the objective of contributing to the improvement of their school estates. These are under consideration with bids received from 12 other authorities and we shall announce decisions as soon as all relevant issues have been considered.

Scottish Executive Publications

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the next electronic service delivery progress report.

Mr Andy Kerr: We have today published the 2nd Electronic Service Delivery Progress Report. Over all, more than 67% of services are now available online. Copies of the report have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre, and it is also available on the 21st Century Government website.

Tourism

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (a) was invited to and (b) attended the recent tourism summit hosted by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Mike Watson: I was invited and decided against attending.

  The meeting is for Whitehall Departments that have a tourism interest. The proposed agenda was almost exclusively related to England. While the work of the BTA was briefly touched on, I had met with the BTA Chair only a few weeks before, and fully discussed issues relating to the BTA's role in Scotland. Both my Deputy minister, Elaine Murray, and I are in regular contact with our counterparts both in the UK government and in other devolved regions.

  I have been invited to attend a meeting of Tourism Ministers from the UK Government, and the devolved administrations, to discuss issues of common concern. At present a mutually convenient date is being sought.

Victim Support

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role is envisaged for victim liaison services following the pilots in Hamilton and Aberdeen.

Colin Boyd QC: The Victim Liaison Office is a major strand of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Action Plan on the Scottish Strategy for Victims . I have already given a commitment that there would be a Victim Liaison Office within each region of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service by summer 2002. Offices have been established in Aberdeen, Hamilton, Peterhead, Glasgow and Kilmarnock. Further offices will be opened in Edinburgh and Dundee by August 2002.

  The principal aims of the service are to provide information to eligible victims, witnesses and bereaved next of kin about the criminal justice process in general and the progress of the case that affects them and to facilitate referrals to other agencies for specialist support and counselling as required.

  The Victim Liaison Office provides its services to the following categories:

  Victims in serious cases where the nature of the charge is indicative of proceedings before a jury;

  Next of kin in deaths cases which are reported for consideration of criminal proceedings, and in deaths cases where a Fatal Accident Inquiry is to be held;

  Next of kin in cases where the Procurator Fiscal will invite the next of kin to discuss the circumstances of the death;

  Victims in cases of domestic abuse;

  Victims in racially aggravated cases and cases where it is known that the victim perceived the offence to be racially motivated;

  Cases involving children who have been cited as prosecution witnesses;

  Victims in cases involving sexual offences, and

  Any other victim, witness or next of kin where the Victim Liaison Office considers that because of particular vulnerability the provision of services would be beneficial.

Victim Support

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will complete the roll out of victim liaison services across Scotland.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Action Plan on the Scottish Strategy for Victims contains a commitment to have a Victim Liaison Office operational in each region of the service by summer 2002. Offices have already been established in Aberdeen, Hamilton, Peterhead, Glasgow and Kilmarnock. The first phase of the Victim Liaison Office roll out will be complete by August 2002 when additional offices will be operational in Edinburgh and Dundee.

  Decisions about the further expansion of the Victim Liaison Office will be made in light of the evaluation of the pilot sites at Aberdeen and Hamilton and the implementation of the Management Review of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Victim Support

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when a victim liaison service will be established alongside the procurator fiscal service in Dumbarton.

Colin Boyd QC: A Victim Liaison Office will be operational in each region of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service by summer 2002. At present there is no target date to establish a Victim Liaison Office in Dumbarton. However, further expansion of the Victim Liaison Office will be considered in light of the evaluation of the operation of the pilot offices in Aberdeen and Hamilton and the implementation of the Management Review of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answers to questions S1W-19876, S1W-19886, S1W-20304 and S1W-21037 on 6 March 2002, whether the process of the evaluation of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's rights and entitlements has been completed, or when it is anticipated that the process will be completed; against whom any litigation may be raised, and whether any of the parties against whom any litigation may be raised have had sight of any of the documents mentioned in questions S1W-19876, S1W-19886, S1W-20304 and S1W-21037.

Sir David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the process is still under way and is being conducted in a manner consistent with achieving the key objective of the Holyrood construction programme. At this stage and subject to the evaluation of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's rights and entitlements, litigation may be raised against the parent company. Parties to the contractual arrangements should be aware of relevant documents.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-20304 on 6 March 2002, what trading was being carried out by the parent company of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited as at 1 March 2002; with whom the parent company was trading; from what source the information about the trading position of the parent company was obtained, and whether any documents relating to the conclusion that the parent company was still trading as at 1 March 2002 will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sir David Steel: As at 1 March 2002, the shares of Flour City International were listed for trading on the National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDQ.) The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has no further information about the scale and nature of the company's trading at that time.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, in light of the passage of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will now disclose information which was classified as confidential in answers to previous written parliamentary questions on the Holyrood Project, detailing the reasons for its position on this matter.

Sir David Steel: The Parliament's position on the disclosure of commercially confidential information has not changed, and is set out in my answer of 19 September 2000 to question S1W-9469. When the provisions of the Freedom of Information Bill come into force, claiming commercially confidential material will require to be judged in the context of the act's provisions on a case by case basis.